News, facts, musings and opinions, and current legal events in Delaware.

Monday, February 24, 2003

taking paraphernalia offline

The Department of Justice is cracking down on web sites that sell drug paraphernalia. In addition to bringing criminal charges before a grand jury for eleven sites, the DOJ is applying to a district court in Pittsburgh to have the sites redirected to a DOJ site page that states:

"By application of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the Web site you are attempting to visit has been restrained by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853 (e)(1)(a)."

The article suggests that the Department of Justice may keep track of the IP addresses and other information they become privy to when visitors are redirected to that DOJ page. And, it also mentions that the DOJ privacy policy notes that the DOJ may take additional steps to identify visitors to their pages, and may turn that information over to other government agencies. Paranoia? Maybe.